When Maserati first launched their long-awaited Levante high-rider, it was fuelled by diesel. Now the petrol version of the Trident Marque’s sports activity vehicle has graced our shores. EGMONT SIPPEL was captivated.
Blame Wendelin Wiedeking.
For it was the good doctor from Zuffenhausen who realised that he could save a brand specialising in small, agile little sports cars by building a big heavy machine with a high centre of gravity; Porsche was on the verge of extinction before the Cayenne started to throw some muscle around.
Yet, the rest of the world’s automotive elite apparently weren’t surprised enough by this unlikeliness to pick up the big SUV baton and run with it.
Until now.
Enter Bentley and Maserati’s sport-activity vehicles in 2016 and the Lamborghini Urus a couple of months ago, with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan slated for late-2018 and Aston Martin’s Varekai for 2019.
All of the latter will be way more expensive than the entry-level Range Rover, where Maser’s Levante competes. The Modenese car, in turn, sits comfortably – or uncomfortably – above the Cayenne, in price.
But not in power.
So, there’s an issue right off the bat: 324 kW/550 Nm for the Cayenne S 2.9-litre V6 versus 316 kW/580 Nm for the Levante GranSport SQ4, while the latter is, at R1.95 million, almost R700,000 dearer than the Porsche.
Which all adds up to a slam dunk for Zuffenhausen, not so?
Not necessarily. I have yet to drive the latest incarnation of the Cayenne, but on the evidence of a one-day road test in the newest addition to Maserati’s sports activity series – the SQ4 petrol version, complete with a Ferrari-sourced mill – one would have to say that the Levante is perhaps flawed, but also sheer genius.
There are obvious shortcomings.
The infotainment system lifted from the Jeep parts bin (Maserati and Jeep are all part of the FCA family, meaning Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is quick, logical and intuitive, yet colours and graphics are old school and outdated. The covers of the Levante’s instrument binnacles are prone to reflect light, sometimes making it difficult to read information. Buttons on the gearbox console are poorly marked. And overly long gearshift paddles have tips stretching so far outwards that it is difficult to clasp your fingers around them. The paddles also don’t turn with the wheel.
More significant complaints would focus on a gear lever action totally unbecoming of an expensive machine. Struggling to move quickly and freely through the gate, the lever sometimes generates grate and at other times fails to slot cleanly when hurried along.
The rest is dynamite, from design to dynamics, with the drivetrain and a wonderfully sweet tiller taking pride of place along with the Levante’s outstanding ride quality on air springs, the latter offering six different settings in all.
The ride is firm in general, yes, but with compliable edges over all kinds of surfaces, at all speeds, while the reworked Ghibli/Quattroporte double wishbone front/multi-link rear chassis with all-wheel drive gives up very little in the way of grip, attitude, body control and straight-line stability, the 2.2-tonne Levante’s double-chamber air springs able to adjust from softest to firmest settings in a mere 100 milliseconds.
Unlike the gear lever’s cheap slotting action, the eight-speed ZF box itself is a technical marvel – quick, smooth and seamless – while the Ferrari-derived 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 is la bella macchina personified, ever so sweet and responsive, with a glorious soundtrack full of life, rasp, crackle, burble and bite accompanying the big Maser every inch of the way – meaning that you’ll have five seconds flat to enjoy it, before the speedometer hits 100 km/h.
There’s some fury in there, when you wind the V6 up, but at lesser loads, the vocals also exude warmth and intimacy.
Steering on the diesel version of the Levante is, interestingly, still hydraulically powered, but the switch to EPS (electric power steering) for the recently launched petrol variant has not resulted in the feared loss of feel and accuracy. The GranSport SQ4 still navigates with satisfying confidence, the tiller always up to the task in terms of weighting and precision.
Last, but not least, is a plush cabin plus dynamite looks. Levante styling is nothing short of an Italian masterclass in how to proportion, balance and sculpt five meters of metal to project class, confidence, aggression, refinement and beauty, all in one go.
It is just so aristocratic and exotic, if not down-right erotic.
LAST WORD
So, all hail the king, meaning Herr Wiedeking, who gave us the Cayenne and, by inference, an avalanche of exclusive high-riders that now also carries the famous trident of the Maserati marque.
And proudly so. The Levante is king in its own right.
Report by EGMONT SIPPEL | Images © MASERATI SOUTH AFRICA
